Improved process of burning petroleum and other liquid fuel for the generation of



IIIIIIIIIII m www NPETEBS, FHOTUUTHOGRAPNER, WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID DICK, OF MEADVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED PROCESS OF BURNING PETROLEUM AND OTHER LIQUID EUEL FOR THE GENERATIONOF STEAM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,732, dated June 2, 1863; antedated April 28, 1863.

T0 afZZ whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, DAVID DICK, of Meadville, in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a certain new and useful method of using mineral oils as fuel for generating steam and for other purposes, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which make part of this specication, and in Which- Figure l represents a view in perspective of so much of a mineral-oil furnace embracing my improvementsas is necessary to illustrate my invention, and Fig. 2 a vertical section through the same at the linex a: of Fig. l. My invention has for its object a novel method of employing mineral oils as fuel for the generation of steam and for other analogous purposes.

To this end the improvement claim ed under this patent consists in saturating abed, stratum,or layer of some material, eitherincombu stible or refractory to heat, with cil, and igniting it upon the surface thereof, by Which method the oil is prevented from being dashed about by the motion of the furnace, and the danger oftoo rapid an ignition or of an explosion is prevented.

To carry out the object of my invention in the best manner, I substitute for the furnace and grate heretofore used With solid fuel a water or oil tight vessel lilled with some incombustible or refractory material, either porous in its structure or else broken into lumps. This material is saturated with oil, and is ignited upon its surface, air to support combustion being supplied in proper quantity and in any suitable or convenient manner.

In the accompanying drawings, which ex- I emplify one mode of carrying out the object of my invention, the furnace is shown as consisting of a watertight rectangular metallic casing or water-box, A, within which a similar box, B, of smaller size is placed, the space between the two forming a chamber, C, which is kept full of water to prevent the lire-box B from being overheated. The water in this instance enters the chamber throughone, a, of the pipes, and flows out at the other. In cases where the furnace is liable to agitation-as 'in locomotive or marine engines-the waterchamber G should be tightly closed to prevent the spilling of the water. Air is supplied to the flame in this instance through ilues D,pas's ing up through the bottom of the furnace. For convenience of construction, the two boxes A and B may be made separately, as shown in Fig. 2 5 but in such cases the joint which connects them should be perfectly tight. The space around the air-fines D is filled with some porous incombustible or refractory material, E. Ashes, sand, gravel, bricks, crushedpottery,4 asbestus, magnesia, pumice-stone, and other materials of like nature may be used for this purpose, but my experiments lead me to prefer pumicestone. This may be used in solid blocks to advantage, but I prefer to use it crushed into small lumps, about the size of 'a pea. The oil, in this instance, enters the fire-box through a supplying-pipe, F, pro vided with a stop-cock, G, to regulate its flow. It may, under some circumstances, require to be forced in by a pump; but if the tank be situated above the level of the fire-box the hydrostatic pressure alone will generally be suicient for this purpose. As the oil enters the fire-box, it percolates through the porous material, which allows it to pass freely, and yet prevents it from dashing about and being spilt over the edges of the furnace, which, in locomotive and marine engines, is of essential importance. Theoil,whenignited,burnsfreely upon the surface of the porous material, While the Water by which the fire-chamber is surrounded prevents the furnace from becoming heated and generating gas in the bottom of the tire-box, which might, under certain conditions, be dangerous. I

In order to extinguish the flame when desired,'I employ an extinguisher-plate,I:I, (shown in red lines in Fig. l and in blue section-lines in Fig. 2, as constructed to slide over the top of the furnace and cut off the supply of air by closing the ilues D.) As the heat of the furnace would cause the generation of gas from the oil for some time after the iiame was extinguished, I make a series of small holes, h, Fig. l, in the extinguisher-plate H, of a sufcient size for the escape of gas, but too minute for the passage of the llame; otherwise the gas might force off the plate.

The advantages attained by my invention are so obvious, especially as adapted to marine or locomotive engines, Where weight and bulk are such paramount considerations, as scarcelyto requirenotice. Theheating-powers of the oils proposed to be employed are so great that at the prices at which they are now sold the cost of running an engine with this kind of fuel would scarcely exceed that of coal, if at all, and would be far cheaper than wood. From data derived from my experiments, I estima-te that one of the (Jollins7 Steamers (Ould be driven across the Atlantic by the consumption of about two hundred tons of oil, which would occupy far less space than the quantity of coal required for the same purpose, and the greater cargo-space thus obtained would more than compensate for any enhanced cost of fuel. It is, moreover, but the work of an instant to light or extinguish the lires, while under the old plan much time and fuel were necessarily consumed in this way. The mere turning of the cock which regulates the tlow of oil gives complete control over the intensity of the name, and conseq uently the amount of steam generated. The tanks might be made to conform to the shape of a vessel and the oil serve as ballast, its place being supplied by water as the oil was expended. The pressure of the water upon the sides of the ship might even be used to force the oil into the furnace, as from its lighter specific gravity it would always oatupon the water, and thus an automatic feed be secured, even with the tanks below the level of the furnace.

My invention might likewise be adapted to cooking, heating, and other analogous purposes with but little, if any, modification of the plan shown. I do not, therefore, limit lnyself to the combination and arrangement hereinbefore shown and described, for it is obvious that they may be modified Vin various ways without departing from the spirit of my invention, and such modifications would readily occur to a skillful mechanic after reading my specification.

DAVID DICK.

Witnesses:

A. CLARK, W. C. MCLAUGHLIN. 

